Last year on Valentine’s Day, H and I sat in the deep upholstered seats at a small round table in the bar of our hotel in Dallas. Silently observing people filtering in and out, we were waiting on some friends to join us for dinner, numb from the day’s events. Hours earlier, H surrendered his job of six years to accept a Macedonian call to London.
Sipping on Cabernet and crunching handfuls of bar mix, we looked at each other silently between gawking and making up stories. “What have we just done?” I asked him.
Making faith decisions, based on what we sense God is saying isn’t new to us.
A few months after saying “I do,” we moved to Tennessee for H to attend seminary, without savings, jobs or a place to live. All we knew for certain is God said to do it, so we went.
There have been many yeses to opportunities for the past twenty-five years of marriage that look crazy to bystanders watching us. But that decision on Valentine’s Day last year was different. We didn’t know exactly what God was asking of us, all we knew was England.
One year later, on the week we celebrate Valentine’s Day, God finally put all of the pieces together.
I can’t wait to share the details with you next week. It’s finally happening; we’re on our way to London!
Last week, The Beauty of Grace: Stories of God’s Love from Today’s Most Popular Writers by Dawn Camp launched into the world. One of my stories was included among a host of stellar writers. This book is a collection of reminders that God is enthralled with who you are, not what you do. You are loved, cherished, adored and you are not alone in your decisions.
In the forward of the book, Holley Gerth writes, “What makes God’s love so wondrous is that He comes to us. He came to the Garden of Eden to walk with Adam and Eve. He came to a manger to live with us and to the cross to die for us and be resurrected. He’s coming again to take us home with Him forever one day. He could have kept His distance. He could have decided we were too messy. He could have said, “Figure out a way to get to where I am.” But no, love always finds a way to get to us and say to our hearts, I’m here.”
What makes our upside down decisions so beautiful over the course of our marriage is the way Jesus comes to us in the midst of them.
While we are waiting, watching the world live around us, and wondering if He forgot about us, we doubt and ask, “What have we done?” And God says I’m coming for you. I love you. I’m here.
How are you experiencing God’s love for you lately? Where do you need Him to come?
I’m giving away The Beauty of Grace to one lucky person who answers that question in the comments.
Happy Valentine’s Day!